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Suncook Valley Sun Historical Archive

(note: we are NOT affiliated with the Suncook Valley Sun Newspaper.

Pittsfield NH News

January 12, 2011

The Suncook Valley Sun News Archive is Maintained by Modern Concepts. We are NOT affliated in any way with the Suncook Valley Sun Newspaper.

The Pittsfield Youth Baseball Association (PYBA) would like to announce that it is evaluating and voting on changes to the organization’s charter and by-laws at its January meeting (Tuesday, 1/18 at 6:30 in the Community Center).  For further information call the PYBA president, Glenn Amnott, at 435-7905.

Lost in Laconia

School Lunch Menus
January 17-21, 2011

Chichester
Monday - No School - Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday - Teriyaki chicken dippers, tator tots, corn, pudding, milk.
Wednesday - Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, garlic bread, veggie, fresh fruit, milk.
Thursday - Chicken nuggets, baked fries, mixed veggies, carrot cake, milk.
Friday - Nachos w/ cheese sauce, baked beans, fruit, milk.

PES
Monday - No School - Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday - Chicken noodle bake, veggie, fruit, milk.
Wednesday - (Early Release) - Ham sandwich, veggie, fruit, milk.
Thursday - Shepherd’s Pie, mashed potatoes, corn, fruit, milk.
Friday - Pizza, salad, fruit, milk.

PMHS
Monday - No School - Martin Luther King Day
Tuesday - (Mid terms all week) - Soup, sandwich, fruit, milk.
Wednesday - Soup, sandwich, fruit, milk.
Thursday - Soup, sandwich, fruit, milk.
Friday - Soup, sandwich, fruit, milk.

VA Set To Verify Veteran Small Businesses

To further advocate for Veterans, VA announced that companies identifying themselves as small businesses or Veteran-owned businesses to gain priority for some Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts must now provide documentation verifying their status within 90 days of receiving notice from the agency.

“VA is committed to doing business with, as well as, supporting and protecting Veteran-owned small businesses,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Although the verification process may initially be a challenge to some small business owners and to VA, it’s a necessary step to eliminate misrepresentation by firms trying to receive contracts that should go to service-disabled and other Veteran-owned vendors.”

The Veterans Benefits Act of 2010, signed by the President on Oct. 13th, expanded VA’s requirement to verify the status of businesses claiming Veterans preference to compete for VA contracts by being listed in VA’s VetBiz.gov “Vendor Information Pages” (VIP) database.  Companies will have to submit an application to substantiate their status as owned and controlled by Veterans, service-disabled Veterans or eligible surviving spouses.  Only companies that submit the information will be listed in the VIP database.

The law requires VA to notify currently listed businesses that within 90 days of the Veteran-owned business receiving the notice they must submit certain business documents. VA sent notices to more than 13,000 listed businesses by email and mail Dec. 10-11.

Other companies, wanting to be listed in the database and considered for future set-aside VA contracts, also have to submit application packages. VA will work on those verifications after the existing listings are verified.

The Department plans to post additional information at www.VetBiz.gov in early February informing applicants how to submit their documents electronically.  In the meantime, VA’s notice to currently listed businesses encourages them to submit their information on CD-ROM.

Priority processing will be given to those Veteran-owned firms that are in line to receive a set-aside contract from VA, those that already conduct business with VA, and those that have already filed an application for verification. 

For more information, visit the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s website at www.va.gov/OSDBU/veteran/verification.asp or the main page at www.va.gov/osdbu/.

Letter

As always, the year’s first issue of the Sun contained Art Morse’s predictions for the upcoming year- a collection of absurdities meant to entertain us.  And usually he’s at least mildly successful.  Enough so that I take time to read them each year, at least.  I gotta say though, that I thought this year’s #4 prediction, in which he took a shot at Dan Schroth ‘Piermarocchi’ left kind of a bad taste in my mouth. I guess it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

I’m not a particularly political person.  I try to go about my business and don’t get as involved as some folk.  But I do care enough to read most of the politics that gets published in our town’s newspaper, and regardless of whether you agree with all of his admittedly unorthodox views, Dan has successfully established himself as a champion of people’s rights – at least as he interprets them.  I don’t believe anyone who has read his letters as long as I have could dispute his love of freedom or the town of Pittsfield.

In my personal opinion (not that anyone would or should have any reason to care what that might be) we need people like Dan- if for no other reason than to counter the ‘Arts’ of the world.  Kind of a ‘checks and balances’ at the local level.  This letter is not meant to endorse all of Dan’s views, nor is it meant to dispute all of Art’s.  It IS meant to point out that for what it’s worth, I think Art went over the line when he chose to have fun at Dan’s expense on the front page of his own newspaper.  Maybe he’d offer up a couple lines in bold print on the front of an upcoming issue of the Sun for Dan to make his own prediction for 2011.

  
Carl Anderson

PS- I voted against zoning for Pittsfield when it was adopted in 1988, and I welcome the chance to vote it out in 2011, however slim that chance might be.  And it’s to Dan’s credit that I’ll get that chance.  We didn’t need it then and we don’t need it now.

Local Students Named To NHTI Dean’s List

The following area students have been named to the Dean’s List at NHTI, Concord’s Community College in recognition of their academic achievement during the Fall 2010 semester. In order to qualify for Dean’s List a student must be considered full time (registered for 12 credits or more), formally accepted into an academic program and have a semester GPA of 3.3 or higher.

BARNSTEAD: Caitlyn Chateauneuf, Bethany DeBenedictis, Joshua Hough.

CENTER BARNSTEAD: Lisa Dumond, Nicholas Fegley, Kerry Spongberg. 

 
CHICHESTER: Paul Carbonneau, Benjamin Demers, Laura Downey, Katherine Ledoux, Nicole Mason.

GILMANTON: Chad Crockett, Jessica Magee, Theodore Maltzie.

PITTSFIELD: Matthew Cloutier.

STRAFFORD: Tristan Blanchard, Derek Castano, Elizabeth Ekstrom, Daniel Esch, Jennifer Forbes, Kody McCarthy, Blaise Swanwick.

Business After Hours In December A Big Success
Submitted By Michele Beauregard

The Greater Pittsfield Chamber of Commerce was excited to hold yet another successful Business After Hours.  The event was hosted by Vintage Hill on 10 Berry Avenue in Pittsfield.   All Chamber Members were provided a wonderful and comforting setting to network their businesses.

When we arrived we were brought over to the dining area!!  It felt like I was at home having a family get together for Vintage Hill has such a welcoming and warm environment.  Candles were lit in the hallway not only creating a wonderful ambiance but also added a fragrance to the air. 

A tour of Vintage Hill was given.  We were able to see all the amenities that Vintage Hill has to offer their residents.  The house feels like home and is very welcoming to anyone that comes to visit!  Residents have their own room plus there is the common area that they can enjoy the company of others within.  

The food is also another wonderful thing!  They had appetizers set out for everyone to enjoy.  They serve home cooked meals for their residents every day and the residents are able to sit at a large dining table and eat together.  

 
After our tour of the facility we all enjoyed a Yankee swap.  This was a lot of fun!  Everyone walked away with a great gift, but it was enjoyable watching everyone open gifts and hide them from others so they would not get stolen!  

 
The Members attending were able to interact with one another and had the opportunity to learn about the individual businesses and the services they offer.  Everyone had a wonderful time!  There were at least 30 people at this event which was wonderful to see!  To learn more about this event and others you can visit The Greater Pittsfield Chamber of Commerce web site at www.pittsfieldchamber.org. 

 
We would like to send out a special Thank You to Vintage Hill!  We appreciate your offering the space within your wonderful and welcoming country home to allow us to network!   Call (603) 435-5133 to arrange a tour of Vintage Hill any time or visit  them on the web at www.vintagehill.net. 

Letter To The Editor
January 1, 2011

We have a lot of respect for the wisdom of the founding fathers and the freedoms we were blessed with.

On November 18th, 1940 before I got on the train to Fort Devens (Army Serial No. 31001012), the Sargent in-charge said, “State your name and repeat after me”...

“I Elmer D. Tasker swear to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America and defend my country against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, so help me God.”

Every year our freedom seems to disappear, more and more. We feel our country has been mismanaged to the point that our government seems to steel from us every chance they get... through fees and fines.

Supremacy Clause Article 6 U. S. Constitution (2nd paragraph) states “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

When we go to Town Meeting according to the Supremacy Clause, we don’t have the right to vote away your freedom and you don’t have the right to vote away ours.

Pittsfield Zoning laws are not in-tune with our Constitution or the Bill of Rights. According to the Supremacy Clause, the courts can not vote away our rights and neither can we.

Respectfully,
Elmer D. Tasker
Dan Schroth Piermarocchi

Pittsfield Aims For A Downtown Makeover

Perhaps it will be a new business incubator for start-up companies in Central New Hampshire.  Maybe a new manufacturing center will be created. Or perhaps a cluster of shops and small businesses tucked into the historic downtown area.  Whatever the plan will be, the blueprint for Pittsfield’s future will begin to be drawn this month when Plan NH comes to town.

Pittsfield was one of six towns chosen through a competitive application process to have part of its downtown redesigned to attract new business.  Volunteers with expertise in the area of architecture, planning, construction, economic development and engineering will visit Pittsfield to help develop a plan called a charrette.  “It’s like the ingredients needed for the perfect meal,” says Ed Vien, chair of the Pittsfield Economic Development Committee.  “We are thrilled to have Plan NH come to town and help us jump start our own economy.  We can’t wait to taste the final product.”

Over two days, the Plan NH team will meet with town leaders and residents to get ideas and listen to suggestions for what to do with an under-used section of town that currently serves as a storage area for tractor trailers and a few businesses.  The area is roughly ten square blocks of property and borders both the downtown and a neighborhood.

“We believe if we can turn this property into a newly developed center for business activity, Pittsfield will become a new center for development,” explains Matt Monahan, of the Central NH Regional Planning Commission.  “Our goal is to expand our tax base by attracting high quality and long term businesses to our town.  We have much to offer and we are very motivated to provide new opportunities for our residents and neighbors.”

Recommendations will be given to the town by the Plan NH team on January 22.  Town leaders are asking for locals to volunteer their time in offering input and ideas for downtown redevelopment.  “This is our home and this is our future,” explains Vien.  “It’ll take the efforts of many to help turn our town into a hub of business activity in the region.  This is a terrific opportunity for residents to give back to our town. There is no limit to the possibilities.”

Prediction For 2011
By Mr. Piermarocchi

1. The Turnout at the Town Hall come March will be the best ever because of the ballot question: “Are you in favor of the repeal of the Zoning Ordinance?”

2. Tanya Emerson of the Pittsfield Police Dept. will be recognized for her excellent way of dealing with the public.

3. The Patriots will probably win the Super Bowl.

4. Art Morse will finally give up on the idea of going back to a 3 member selectboard.

5. The new ball fields on Tilton Hill Road will be finished on schedule and be a source of pride for our town.

6.  The tax rate, due to the school, will increase by $.57 per thousand. Almost a 2% increase.

7. The State Legislators and our U.S. Representatives will find out how hard it is to dig ourselves out of a hole.

President Signed Improvements To Post-9/11 GI Bill Many Non-College Programs And State Service Of Reserves And Guard Now Covered
Submitted By Merrill A. Vaughan

Vice Commander American Legion Peterson-Cram Post 75 Pittsfield, NH 03263

To bring the educational benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill closer to more Veterans and Service Members, President Obama signed legislation Jan. 4 that streamlines the 18 month old education program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“Since the first GI Bill in 1944, this unique educational program has adapted to the needs of America’s Veterans, active-duty personnel, reservists and Guardsmen,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Like its forbearers, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is growing to ensure the men and women who serve this nation in uniform receive valuable education benefits from a grateful nation.

“On behalf of Veterans and the many who serve them at VA, we would like to thank the president for his support, as well as members of Congress and our Veterans service organization partners for helping make this bill a reality,” Shinseki added.

Among the provisions of the legislation are:
•  Paying for on-the-job training, some flight training; apprenticeship training and correspondence courses;

•  Allowing reservists and Guardsmen to have their time supporting emergencies called by their state governors credited to the time needed to qualify for educational benefits;

•  Providing one half of the national average for the program’s housing allowance to students enrolled in distance learning;

•  Pro-rating the housing allowance to exclude payments when students are not in class;

•  Allowing students on active duty receive the stipend for books and supplies;

•  Allowing people eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but participating in VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) benefits to choose between the GI Bill’s housing allowance or VR&E’s subsistence allowance;

•  Permitting reimbursement for more than one “license and certification” test;

•  Reimbursing fees to take national admission tests, such as SAT, ACT, GMAT and LSAT; and

•  Establishing a national cap of $17,500 annually for tuition and fees in a private or a foreign school, not including contributions by educational institutions under the “Yellow Ribbon” program.

Information about the new provisions is available on the Internet at http://www.gibill.va.gov.

By the end of December 2010, VA issued nearly $7.2 billion in tuition, housing, and stipends for more than 425,000 Veterans or eligible family members pursuing higher education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.